Periodically, ice rinks require resurfacing to allow for continued safe and effective use. The action of skating places substantial stresses on the ice. Chipping, scoring, and shaving buildup reduces the quality of the ice, and consequently the quality of the skating.
Resurfacing of ice rinks is normally carried out by use of a rather sophisticated ice resurfacing machine, such as that manufactured by Resurfacie Corp. of St. Jacobs, Ontario, and identified as its Olympia Model ST75. Ice resurfacing machines, such as the Model ST75, typically shave off a top layer of the ice with a large blade and then apply a layer of heated water on the newly shaved ice to form a fresh, thin, top layer of ice. A spreader attached on the rear of the machine drags along the ice surface to evenly spread the applied layer of water so that the new layer of ice is level and of generally uniform thickness.
There are a number of different types of spreaders with the flexible towel spreaders being the most predominant. Generally, these spreaders consist of one or more layers of fabric material bound together by a number of grommets passing through the layer(s) near the upper edge thereof, which grommets are also used to secure the spreader to the resurfacing machine.
Flexible towel spreaders have numerous drawbacks. First, ice resurfacing machines using such spreaders must move over the ice surface slowly. This makes the amount of time the ice resurfacing machine operator must spend resurfacing substantial, and also reduces the time available for skaters to use the ice surface. This is a problem particularly with ice rinks which rent on an hourly basis.
Ice resurfacing machines using towel spreaders must move slowly because of the undesirable "squeegee effect" conventional towel spreaders create when operated over ice surfaces at relatively high speeds. This squeegee effect is caused when conventional towel spreaders become saturated and are dragged along the ice in an ice resurfacing operation. A substantial amount of the water applied to an ice surface is thereby prevented from flowing between the towel and the ice and thus only a thin water layer passes beneath the towel spreader. The remaining water is pushed ahead of the flexible towel spreader, is chilled by the effect of the ice surface and forms a turbulent wake. In the turbulent wake air is mixed with the chilled water. Thus air passes under the towel and is deposited in the fresh layer of water in the form of an air bubble. This trapped air results in water being spread unevenly and the formation of dry spots on the ice surface.
The squeegee effect also results in water flowing over the ends of the towel spreader causing an uneven ice layer where such water freezes.
Second, through use, flexible towel spreaders become worn, shredded and torn--all of which conditions result in uneven water distribution and thereby poor, if not dangerous ice conditions.
Third, conventional towel spreaders are difficult to attach and remove from the ice resurfacing machine. In order to assure an even distribution of water, the towel must hang at a uniform height across its lateral extent. Because of the flexibility of the towel, numerous nut and bolt connections through the grommets are required. For example, the model ST75 uses 18 bolts to secure the towel. This large number of bolts makes it very time consuming to replace conventional towel spreaders. In addition, these nuts and bolts are exposed to a wide range of temperatures and a wet environment. Between the ice, the ambient temperature, and the hot water currently used for resurfacing of ice, the nuts and bolts may experience a temperature range from 15 degrees fahrenheit up to 150 degrees fahrenheit and higher. The combined effects of temperature fluctuation and humidity may degrade the nuts and bolts, further inhibiting their removal.
Finally, special additives to accelerate the ice forming process are now available to ice rink operators. While these additives have several advantages over untreated water, including faster formation of ice, certain of these additives decrease the viscosity of the water, accentuating the squeegee effect discussed above. As a result, spreader machines distributing water treated with these additives must move particularly slowly over the ice surface when using conventional towel spreader attachments.
The present invention is directed towards overcoming one or more of these problems.